Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of households without a car or van than 73% of Irish towns, at 23%
Half of Dundalk’s residents are under 36.5, younger than in nearly two thirds of Irish towns. This Co. Louth town is home to 43,112 residents in 15,936 households, by the 2022 Census. The census found that 14% of residents said they have no religion here. By its share of households of parents with children (45%), Dundalk is above 60% of Irish towns.
A higher share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 75% of Irish towns, at 14%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 35–39: 8% of residents. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. In Castlebellingham-Kilsaran, the oldest of Co. Louth’s towns by this measure, it is 19%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Dundalk, 36.5. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Louth 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
A higher share of students among residents 15 and over than 74% of Irish towns, at 12%
CSO’s social classes (everyone, by their own or their family’s occupation), the occupations of those at work, and where residents lived a year before the Census.
Residents by social class · all residents
Where residents lived a year earlier
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Workers by occupation · residents at work
Across Ireland’s towns, just over a third of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Dundalk, 31% and 17%. For Dundalk, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 7.5%.
Dundalk: 26% of households are one person living alone, above 58% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Louth’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
For Dundalk, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 5.4%. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns. Households in Dundalk hold 2.7 people on average (Ireland’s towns: 2.7).
Fewer households in flats than 69% of Irish towns: 8.9%
Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Internet at home · share of households
Home broadband covers 88% of households, while 10% go without the internet (typical: 7.6%). Set beside that, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. For Dundalk, the census puts holiday homes at 0.2%.
Household income at the median: €48,910 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€48,910 a year before tax puts the median household 19% below Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €54,600 across Co. Louth.
More residents born outside Ireland than 68% of Irish towns: 27%
Place of birth and citizenship as CSO asks them: born abroad includes Irish citizens born abroad.
Born abroad, by birthplace · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.
Other languages · share of all residents
CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the UK (9.2%) and outside the EU and UK (8.7%). Set beside that, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Little separates the share of residents with another country’s citizenship here, 15%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns.
33% of Dundalk’s residents can speak Irish
Residents aged 3 and over who can speak Irish, and how often they speak it outside education (CSO).
Irish speakers · residents aged 3 and over
Little separates the share of daily speakers of Irish outside education here, 0.8%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. Tullyallen leads Co. Louth with 1.2%.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 60% of Irish towns: 75%
Ethnic or cultural background and religion, in CSO’s categories, as people described themselves.
Ethnic groups other than White Irish · all residents
White Irish, not charted: 75% of Dundalk · Co. Louth’s towns 86% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (11%), Black or Black Irish (6.5%) and Asian or Asian Irish (3.6%). Against that, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Set against 71% across Ireland’s towns, 72% of residents said they are Catholic in Dundalk.
In Dundalk, 32% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 70% of Irish towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.
Partnership status · residents 15 and over
The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.
Unpaid carers account for 5.4%. 58% of Dundalk’s residents 15 and over are single and 32% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 31% in Dundalk, less than in 61% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Across Ireland’s towns, 9.7% of adults finished at primary level or earlier; in Dundalk, 13%, and 9.6% hold a postgraduate qualification. To put it in context, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Youngest by rank: 16th of 41 towns of 18,608 to 44,135 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Jobstown (32.4) and the oldest Beaumont (42.9). Nearest to Dundalk in age: Carlow (36.3), Athlone (36.4), Ballymun (36.6) and Mullingar (36.7).
A younger town than 3 of the 5 around it: Dundalk
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk | 43,112 | — | 36.5 | 14% | 45% |
| Dromiskin | 1,292 | 7.6 km | 36.1 | 10% | 59% |
| Castlebellingham-Kilsaran | 1,232 | 10.9 km | 41.4 | 19% | 41% |
| Carlingford | 1,528 | 14.6 km | 41.1 | 18% | 41% |
| Ardee | 5,478 | 18.1 km | 37.7 | 14% | 46% |
| Dunleer | 2,143 | 18.4 km | 36.3 | 11% | 53% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Louth’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Louth has fewer than five towns of 2,500 or more, so its figure is the median of its towns of 1,000 or more; the national figure is the median of the Irish towns of 2,500 or more (city totals left out). Percentiles are within Ireland only.
- The earlier population is an estimate. Towns had no official 2016 count on today’s boundaries, so the 2016 figure is CSO’s electoral-division count shared out by where people lived in 2022: read a small town in a large rural division loosely.
- What these tables don’t give. The small-area tables give no year of arrival and no hours of care, and a town’s electoral divisions run past its edge, so the page doesn’t split a town into named areas (a city lists its neighbourhoods).
- The census’s own words. Born abroad, citizenship, ethnic or cultural background and religion are CSO’s questions and categories; the page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Dundalk’s residents
What is the population of Dundalk?
Dundalk had 43,112 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area.
What is the average age in Dundalk?
The median age is 36.5, younger than 65% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Dundalk?
33% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (12,621 people), and 0.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Dundalk?
75% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 27% were born abroad and 15% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Dundalk?
72% are Catholic, 14% have no religion and 14% another religion; 8.3% didn’t say.
Is Dundalk good for families?
45% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Dundalk are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Dundalk?
Median gross household income in Dundalk was €48,910 in 2022, against €54,600 across Co. Louth and €60,120 for Ireland.
Sources: CSO, Census of Population 2022, Small Area Population Statistics · CSO PxStat FP009 (2016 by electoral division) · CSO GPIIA, household income 2022. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).